(Neh. 3:25-27) Some think this latter tower was the one referred to in The Song of Solomon as “the tower of David, built in courses of stone, upon which are hung a thousand shields, all the circular shields of the mighty men.” (Song of Sol. 4:4) This tower should not be confused with the more modern so-called “Tower of David,” which incorporates the tower of Phasael, partly destroyed by Titus in 70 C.E. This Phasael tower was one of the three built by Herod the Great for the protection of his new palace erected near the site of the ancient Corner Gate on the W side of the city.

The Tower in Siloam was probably in the vicinity of the pool by that name in the BE sector of Jerusalem. Jesus mentioned that this tower collapsed, killing eighteen men, an event that must have been fresh in the memory of his audience.—Luke 13:4; see ANTONIA, CASTLE OF.

FIGURATIVE USE

Those who look in faith and obedience to Jehovah have great security, as David sang: “You [Jehovah] have proved to be a refuge for me, a strong tower in the face of the enemy.” (Ps. 61:3) Those who recognize what his name stands for, and who trust in and faithfully represent that name, have nothing to fear, for: “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower. Into it the righteous runs and is given protection.”—Prov. 18:10; compare 1 Samuel 17:45-47.

TOWER OF BABEL

See BABEL.

TOWN

See CITY.

TRACHONITIS

(Trach·o·niʹtis) [rough, stony region].

That region which, together with Ituraea, was under the administration of Philip, the Roman district ruler during the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. (Luke 3:1) The northern limits of Trachonitis were some twenty-five miles (40 kilometers) SE of Damascus in the northeastern part of Bashan. In size, it embraced a pear-shaped area of about 350 square miles (906 square kilometers).

For the most part exposed lava deposits with their deep fissures and holes cover the central portion of this country, leaving little land suitable for the cultivation of more than vineyards. It is a wild, inhospitable and foreboding country, known today by the Arabic name el Leja (meaning “the Refuge”), for it affords a suitable hideout for fugitives from justice.

At one time the population of Trachonitis was much greater than at present, judging from the ruins of its ancient cities. The absence of wood in the construction of these cities indicates that even in ancient times the country was probably as devoid of timber as it is today. Sufficient rainfall and the presence of springs make sheep- and goat-raising possible.

Trachonitis is mentioned only once in the Bible, though Strabo and Josephus make several references to this region. From such secular sources it is learned that Roman Emperor Augustus included Trachonitis in the kingdom territory given to Herod the Great. Upon Herod’s death his son Philip received Trachonitis as part of his tetrarchy over which he ruled down to his death.

TRADITION

Information, doctrines or practices that have been handed down from parents to children or that have become the established way of thinking or acting. The Greek word pa·raʹdo·sis means, basically, “a giving over, giving up” and hence tradition in the sense of “a giving over which is done by word of mouth or in writing.” The word as used in the Christian Greek Scriptures is applied to traditions that were proper or acceptable aspects of true worship, as well as to those that were in error or were followed or viewed in a way that made them harmful and objectionable.

Over the centuries the Jews acquired many traditions. These included ways of dress and handling social matters such as weddings and burials. (John 2:1, 2; 19:40) Also, some aspects of Jewish worship in the first century C.E. were customary or traditional, like using wine in the Passover meal and celebrating the rededication of the temple. (Luke 22:14-18; John 10:22) Jesus and his apostles did not object to such, though they knew that those things were not required by the Law. When the synagogue became a common place of Jewish worship it was custom or tradition to worship there each sabbath. Luke says that Jesus also attended, “according to his custom.”—Luke 4:16.

DISAPPROVED TRADITIONS

The Jewish religious leaders, though, had added to the written Word many verbal traditions that they viewed as indispensable to true worship. Paul (Saul), as a Pharisee before his conversion to Christianity, was unusually zealous to follow the traditions of Judaism. These would, of course, include the unobjectionable ones and the bad ones. By following the “commands of men as doctrines,” he was led to be a persecutor of Christians. (Matt. 15:9) For instance, they ‘did not eat unless they washed their hands up to the elbow, holding fast the tradition of the men of former times.’ (Mark 7:3) Among those men this practice was not for hygienic purposes, but was a ceremonious ritual that supposedly had religious merit. (See WASHING OF HANDS.) Christ showed that they had no basis for criticizing his disciples for not following that and other unnecessary “commands of men.” (Matt. 15:1, 2, 7-11; Mark 7:4-8; Isa. 29:13) Furthermore, by their tradition regarding “corban” (a gift dedicated to God) the religious leaders had made God’s Word invalid, overstepping the commandment of God.—Ex. 20:12; 21:17; Matt. 15:3-6; Mark 7:9-15; see CORBAN.

Neither Jesus nor his disciples ever quoted oral Jewish tradition to support their teachings, but, rather, appealed to the written Word of God. (Matt. 4:4-10; Rom. 15:4; 2 Tim. 3:15-17) Once the Christian congregation was established, observance of the unscriptural Jewish traditions amounted to a “fruitless form of conduct” that Jewish persons had ‘received by tradition from their forefathers [Gr., pa·tro·pa·raʹdo·tos, meaning “delivered down from one’s fathers, ancestral”].’ (1 Pet. 1:18) Upon becoming Christians, those Jews abandoned such traditions. When some false teachers in Colossae urged taking up that form of worship, Paul warned against “the philosophy and empty deception according to the tradition of men.” Evidently he meant, especially, the traditions of Judaism.—Col. 2:8, 13-17.

CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS

Viewing tradition in the sense of information handed down orally or by example, the information that the apostle Paul received directly from Jesus could properly be passed on to the Christian congregations as acceptable Christian tradition. This was so, for example, regarding the celebration of the Lord’s Evening Meal. (1 Cor. 11:2, 23) The teachings and example set by the apostles constituted valid tradition. Thus, Paul, who had personally toiled with his hands so as not to be a financial burden on his brothers (Acts 18:3; 20:34; 1 Cor. 9:15; 1 Thess. 2:9), could urge the Thessalonian Christians “to withdraw from every brother walking disorderly and not according to the tradition [pa·raʹdo·sis]” they had received. One who would not work was plainly not following the fine example or tradition of the apostles.—2 Thess. 3:6-11.

The “traditions” that are necessary for worship of God that is clean and undefiled were in time included as part of the inspired Scriptures. Hence, the traditions or precepts that were transmitted by Jesus and the apostles and that were vital for life were not left in oral form to be distorted by the passage of time but were accurately recorded in the Bible for the benefit of Christians living at later periods.—John 20:30, 31; Rev. 22:18.

TRAITOR

One who betrays another’s trust, is false to a duty or acts treasonously against his country or ruler. The most infamous traitor of the Bible was “Judas Iscariot, who turned traitor.” (Luke 6:16) The Greek noun pro·doʹtes (“betrayer, traitor,” from a verb meaning “to give forth or over, to betray”) aptly describes Judas, for after being selected as an apostle he became a greedy, practicing thief (John 12:6) and finally betrayed Jesus to the authorities for a comparatively small sum. (Matt. 26:14-16, 25, 48, 49) His was not merely a temporary abandoning of Christ by fleeing from what appeared to be a dangerous situation (Mark 14:50), but was a deliberate betrayal of Jesus to those seeking his death.

The Jewish religious leaders were correctly termed “betrayers and murderers,” for they employed traitorous Judas, personally turned their fellow countryman Christ over to the Romans and then, in an outrage of justice, opposed the declaration of Jesus’ innocence and demanded his death.—John 18:28–19:16; Acts 3:13-15; 7:52.

Another outstanding example of a traitor listed in the Bible was Ahithophel. Though having been King David’s trusted counselor, he joined Absalom’s insurrection. (2 Sam. 15:12, 31; 16:20-23; compare Psalm 55:20, 21.) God thwarted the traitorous adviser’s counsel, leading to Ahithophel’s death by suicide. (2 Sam. 17:23) Evidently David had other experiences with persons who turned against him. A number of modern Bible translations render the plural Hebrew participle bogh·dhimʹ (from a root meaning “to deal treacherously”) as “traitors” at Psalm 59:5: “Do not show favor to any hurtful traitors.” (JB, NE [1970 ed.], NW, Mo) The superscription of the psalm suggests that it relates to the time when Saul sent men to watch David’s house in order to kill him. (1 Sam. 19:11-18) So the “traitors” mentioned at Psalm 59:5 may have been associates of David who had deserted him or who were willing to betray him in that hour of trial. Or, since the preceding words call on God to turn his attention to “all the nations,” the term “traitors” may have referred to all opposers of God’s will, whether inside or outside Israel.

The prophecy in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 about conditions to exist in “the last days” indicates that there would be many betrayers or traitors (Gr., pro·doʹtes). Christians were advised to “turn away” from such, as befits persons striving to be loyal and honest in all things.—1 Thess. 2:10; Heb. 13:18.

TRANCE

See VISION.

TRANSFIGURATION

A miraculous event in the earthly life of Jesus Christ that was witnessed by Peter, James and John. (Matt. 17:1-9; Mark 9:2-10; Luke 9:28-36) Matthew and Mark say that on this occasion Jesus’ “face shone as the sun, and his outer garments became brilliant as the light,” becoming “far whiter than any clothes cleaner on earth could whiten them,” and Luke states that “the appearance of his face became different.” The transfiguration occurred on a mountain sometime after Passover of 32 C.E., quite a while before Jesus’ final trip to Jerusalem. It probably took place at night, for the apostles “were weighed down with sleep.” (Luke 9:32) At night the event would be more vivid, and they did spend the night on the mountain, for it was not until the next day that they descended. (Luke 9:37) Just how long the transfiguration lasted, however, the Bible does not say.

Prior to ascending the mountain, Christ had asked all his disciples: “Who are men saying that I am?” whereupon Peter replied: “You are the Christ.” At that Jesus told them that he would die and be resurrected (Mark 8:27-31), though he also promised that some of his disciples would “not taste death at all” until they had first seen “the Son of man coming in his kingdom,” or “the kingdom of God already come in power.” (Matt. 16:28; Mark 9:1) This promise was fulfilled “six days later” (or “eight” according to Luke, who apparently includes the day of the promise and that of the fulfillment) when Peter, James and John accompanied Jesus into a “lofty mountain” (Matt. 17:1; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28) where, while praying, Jesus was transfigured before them.

LOCATION OF THE TRANSFIGURATION

Just before the transfiguration, Jesus and his disciples were in the region of Caesarea Philippi, the present-day village of Banias. (Mark 8:27) It is unlikely that Christ and the apostles departed from this vicinity or region when going to the “lofty mountain.” (Mark 9:2) Mount Tabor has been viewed as the traditional site from about the fourth century C.E., but, lying about fifty miles (80.5 kilometers) from Caesarea Philippi, it seems an improbable location.—See TABOR No. 1.

Mount Hermon, on the other hand, is only fourteen miles (22.5 kilometers) N of Caesarea Philippi. It rises to a height of over 9,000 feet (c. 2,743 meters) above sea level and would therefore be a “lofty mountain.” (Matt. 17:1) Hence, the transfiguration may have taken place on some spur of Mount Hermon. This is the view of many modern scholars, though the Bible’s silence on the matter leaves the exact location uncertain.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE EVENT

During Jesus’ transfiguration, Moses and Elijah also appeared “with glory.” (Luke 9:30, 31) It had been foretold that Jehovah would raise up a prophet like Moses, and that promise was fulfilled in Christ. (Deut. 18:15-19; Acts 3:19-23) Between Moses and Jesus there were such similarities as these: babes were killed at both of their births, though they themselves were spared (Ex. 1:20–2:10; Matt. 2:7-23); they both experienced fasts of forty days’ duration (Ex. 24:18; 34:28; Deut. 9:18, 25; Matt. 4:1, 2); both were raised up by God in the interests of true worship and to effect deliverance (Ex. 3:1-10; Acts 7:30-37; 3:19-23); they were each privileged by God to mediate a covenant with his people (Ex. 24:3-8; Heb. 8:3-6; 9:15); both were used by Jehovah to magnify his name.—Ex. 9:13-16; John 12:28-30; 17:5, 6, 25, 26.

It was also foretold that Jehovah would send Elijah the prophet, among whose works was that of turning persons of Israel to true repentance. While Jesus was on earth John the Baptist did a work of that kind and served as the Messiah’s forerunner, fulfilling Malachi 4:5, 6. (Matt. 11:11-15; Luke 1:11-17) But, since the transfiguration occurred after the death of John the Baptist, Elijah’s appearance in it indicates that a work of restoration would be associated with the establishment of God’s kingdom in the hands of Christ.

During the transfiguration, Jesus, Moses and Elijah talked about Christ’s “departure [a form of the Greek word eʹxo·dos] that he was destined to fulfill at Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:31) This eʹxo·dos, exodus or “departure,” evidently involved both Christ’s death and his subsequent resurrection to spirit life.

Some critics have endeavored to class the transfiguration as simply a dream. However, Peter, James and John would not logically all have had exactly the same dream. Jesus himself called what took place a “vision” (Matt. 17:9), but not a mere illusion. Christ was actually there, though Moses and Elijah, who were dead, were not literally present. They were represented in vision. The Greek word used for “vision” at Matthew 17:9 is hoʹra·ma, meaning “the thing seen—a sight; a spectacle; a view.” It does not imply unreality, as though the observers